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![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090509013838im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) Press Release 08-104 Newly Born Twin Stars Are Far From Identical
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090509013838im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/greenlineshort.jpg)
NSF-funded basic research may cause astronomers to re-examine the masses and ages of young stars and star formation theories
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![Photo of twin stars observed in the Orion Nebula, 1,500 light years from the Earth.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090509013838im_/http://www.nsf.gov/news/mmg/media/images/twin_stars_f.jpg) |
Twin stars observed in the Orion Nebula, a stellar nursery 1,500 light years from Earth. At this distance the twin stars appear as a single point of light. The observations were made with the NSF-supported SMARTS telescopes at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, and with access provided by NSF to the Hobby-Eberly Telescope at the MacDonald Observatory in Texas.
Credit: NASA-JPL/HST and David James (Vanderbilt) |
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![Keivan Stassun describes a surprising new find--twin stars that differ in several respects.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090509013838im_/http://www.nsf.gov/news/mmg/media/images/twin_stars_still_f.jpg) |
View Video Keivan Stassun, associate professor of astronomy at Vanderbilt University, describes a surprising discovery--two very young twin stars in the Orion Nebula that have different temperatures, brightnesses and, probably, diameters. The finding could help scientists to develop a better understanding of how twin stars are born.
Credit: National Science Foundation / Vanderbilt University
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